World's tallest wooden wind turbine gets to work in Sweden
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The world's tallest wooden wind turbine has started supplying electricity in Sweden.
Made from thin layers of wood that are glued together, the 150-meter high structure aims to be a more eco-friendly and renewable challenger to other turbines - which are usually made of steel.
The company behind the new turbine, hopes to start producing many more of the wooden towers in the future.
How does the wooden turbine work?
The huge new turbine is 150 metres tall to the tip of the highest blade and its strength comes from the 144 layers of spruce wood that are stuck together to make its thick walls.
The thin layers are glued and compressed together at a factory to make the curved sections.
Those pieces are then transported to the site, where they are glued together and stacked on top of each other to make the tower.
Speaking to the 91热爆's Environment Correspondent Jonah Fisher, David Olivegren from Modvion explained: "Wood and glue is the perfect combination, we've known that for hundreds of years. And because using wood is lighter [than steel] you can build taller turbines with less material."
You might have seen a wind farm before - it's essentially a large group of wind turbines!
Wind turbines are large columns, with a set of blades at the top. These blades are the start of what helps turn the energy from the wind, into electricity for us to use.
When the wind blows, it turns the blades on the top of the turbine. These blades moving produce kinetic energy.
The kinetic energy powers a shaft in the nacelle - which is just behind the blades.
A generator in the nacelle then turns the kinetic energy into electrical energy.
The company also says that using wood instead of steel is better for the environment.
That's because trees take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere when they are alive and, when they are chopped down, the carbon is stored in the wood.
As long as the wood doesn't end up rotting or being burned, the carbon is not released.
The wooden parts of the turbine tower are glued together
Each wooden turbine tower used around 200 spruce trees - the same type that is used for Christmas trees - and Modvion says they are farmed sustainably, meaning when they are harvested, more are planted.
If you're hoping to spot a wooden turbine, it might not be that easy as they look very similar to the traditional steel versions.
Both have a thick white coating to protect them from the elements and the blades are mainly made from fibreglass attached to a generator - which produces electricity when it turns.
Modvion says it hopes to open a facility in the future that will be able to produce a hundred wooden turbines every year.